World Series Snags Most Viewers in 5 Years

This year’s World Series battle between the valiant Philadelphia Phillies and the evil empire of the New York Yankees (oh, did I mention I’m from the Philadelphia area?) drew an average 19.4 million viewers and a 6.2 Nielsen rating, according to THR.

Remember the muttering about how the country wanted an LA/NY World Series? Didn’t seem to keep people from tuning in anyway.

That 6.2 rating is the largest single-year ratings increase in the history of the World Series. The obvious change came in the form of the Yankees making to the series – although I’d like to think some of that boost was due to Philly’s Chase Utley turning in one of the greatest World Series performances in the history of the sport. Wednesday’s game 6 (the last in the series) averaged 22.3 million viewers and a 7.4 rating among adults 18-49, up 41% in the demographic from 2008.

Higher ratings for Fox (which annually broadcasts the World Series), inevitably meant lower ratings for most of the competing programming on other networks, including ABC’s Cougar Town and Eastwick and CBS’s CSI: New York whose numbers all hit series lows. Oddly enough, those that prefer the fashion and confrontation of the catwalk to that of the baseball diamond drove The CW’s America’s Next Top Model ratings to a season high.

Now if only they would stop playing that same Jay-Z song all over the streets of NYC…

A final game that saw a Yankees 7-1 lead in the fifth inning reminds me more of recent Superbowl blowouts than the edge-of-your-seat fare Fox was surely hoping for. Did you think the World Series on the whole was entertaining, or did the thrill dissipate early for you?